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Client Success Story

Eaton consolidated 20+ disconnected digital experiences into one unified platform

See how Zaelab helped Eaton move from fragmented, low-trust digital channels to a composable, globally scalable customer experience, from 90-day MVP to the first launch of Eaton Next.

Services

Digital Advisory
Digital Advisory
Experiences
Experiences
Strategy
Strategy
Platform Implementation
Platform Implementation

Industry

Electrical Equipment
Electrical Equipment

Platform

Company Size

Enterprise

Company

Eaton is a $30B manufacturer of electrical, aerospace, and related businesses with multiple business units and regions around the world. For a company selling equipment that contractors build construction projects around, the reliability of its digital channels is not a nice to have: if a contractor cannot trust order status, they cannot sequence the work.

The Challenge

Eaton's digital customer experience was spread across 20+ systems, each with its own team, its own experience, and its own flaws. Eight major customer personas had to move between all of them to do business with Eaton, and none of the systems connected to one another.

Customers did not trust the data in Eaton's digital experiences. Order status, a critical part of Eaton's business, was frequently wrong: portals would show an order shipping today when it clearly was not. Contractors and dealers could not plan construction around data they could not rely on.

A competitive analysis that made the rounds internally showed Eaton's digital experience trailing ABB, Hubbell, and GE in usability and modernity. Internal teams were locked in contending over platform direction (Salesforce versus other approaches), with no shared vision for how the experiences should come together.

The Solution

Zaelab began with digital advisory: an exhaustive competitive analysis, executive interviews, and a persona journey map that showed where Eaton stood and why. That work shaped a clear vision: consolidate the 20+ disconnected experiences into one unified, next-generation platform, and stepwise toward it with a composable architecture that scales globally.

To prove the approach, Zaelab delivered a 90-day MVP: the art of the possible, fast enough to create momentum. The MVP launched confidence in the team and became the launchpad for the broader engagement.

Zaelab positioned the platform as a composable layer on Microsoft Azure: not a custom build, not a full platform replacement. All business logic, data, and rules stayed in Eaton's existing platforms (including Salesforce for service), while the new experience layer orchestrated across them. A 12-month roadmap using the strangler pattern shows how legacy systems get replaced one piece at a time, culminating in a single experience: Eaton Next.

Along the way, Zaelab expanded into a Salesforce B2B commerce implementation, designed to integrate with Eaton Next so the two tracks converge instead of competing.

Key Integrations

Microsoft Azure: the cloud foundation for the composable experience platform.

Salesforce: retained for service, with B2B commerce implemented by Zaelab in parallel and integrated toward the unified vision.

Eaton Next: the target unified experience that brings commerce, search, and regions together, replacing legacy applications one at a time.

The Result

✔ First version of the unified platform launched in January 2026, ahead of the consolidation roadmap

✔ 20+ disconnected experiences consolidated into a single, stepwise migration roadmap

✔ Composable architecture approved as the platform strategy, ending internal platform debates

✔ Salesforce B2B commerce implementation expanded in parallel, integrated toward the unified vision

✔ Engagement extended for continued Eaton Next work into 2027

Business Impact

Eaton now has a credible, approved path from 20+ disconnected systems to one unified customer experience. The composable approach protects the company's existing platform investments while giving the digital team the speed and differentiation that a consolidated, single-vendor build could not.

With the first version live and a parallel commerce track in flight, the organization can keep consolidating incrementally, region by region and business unit by business unit, without stopping the business to do a big-bang replatform.

Technology is more than a tool—it’s the engine driving your business.

Are you leading the way or falling behind? Learn where your B2B business stands compared to industry competitors. Zaelab offers a complimentary benchmark service, providing actionable insights into your performance. Turn technology into a competitive advantage.
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